


Dialectic

by tacomuerte



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: AU after that, Angst, F/F, No Beta Reader on this one in honor of King, Post-Episode: s01e18 Agony of a Witch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26124646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacomuerte/pseuds/tacomuerte
Summary: A love story in three parts.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 56
Kudos: 295





	1. Thesis

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion. 
> 
> — George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

It’s nearly an hour before the panic sets in, and Luz is kind of proud of herself for lasting this long. Maybe she’s been too angry and sad to feel panicked, but in the middle of ransacking the house for anything and everything she might use to save Eda it hits her that she’s alone in this.

Well, not technically alone. She has King, but the little guy isn’t really a threat to the Emperor’s Coven and Lilith. 

Luz pauses her search of the kitchen, gripping the counter until her knuckles turn white as she pushes down a new surge of rage at the very thought of that woman’s name. Luz has never hated anyone before, not the other kids who bullied her, not anyone, but she hates Lilith, and she’s okay with that.

She tries focusing on what options she might have because the overwhelming urge to just drop to the floor and cry won’t go away. 

King’s out, but there’s Hooty. He’s powerful, but he’s a house and kind of immobile most of the time. Maybe she and Willow and Gus could figure out a way to do another Moonlight Conjuring. Luz thinks it’s a once per year type of thing and honestly she’s better off focusing on finding something—anything!—that might give her an advantage because she can’t risk Willow or Gus or Am— 

No. Luz can’t even think her name because the image of Lilith getting her hands on the girl who’s come to mean so much to Luz so quickly is just unacceptable. 

The panic isn’t getting better. Focus, she thinks. She’s got the cloak that Eda made. Other than that, all she’s found so far are some potions, which she isn’t even sure how to begin figuring out what they do, and a bunch of junk from her world.

So, panic it is, she guesses. It’s getting harder and harder to breathe, and she can see that King has come into the kitchen and is saying something to her but it feels like she’s underwater. King’s voice is muffled and the walls are closing in on her…

Suddenly she’s aware of gentle hands firmly grasping her arms, turning her around from the counter. It’s Willow. She looks afraid and Luz wants to comfort her but she can’t even get her own feelings under control at the moment.

Willow guides her out of the kitchen and to the sofa, and Luz belatedly realizes Gus is there, too, walking beside them.

“Just breathe,” Willow says, softly, taking a seat beside her. “Take your time. Breathe in… breathe out…”

After a few minutes, Luz nods to show she’s over her panic attack.

“Sorry, guys,” she says. It’s humiliating. She has to save Eda, and here she is breaking down before she’s even started.

Willow scoffs and Gus says with a smile, “Don’t worry about it.” He sits on the other side of Luz and pulls her into a sideways hug. Luz appreciates more than he’ll ever know.

They want to be here for her. They want to help. She can’t allow that. Now comes the hard part. She has to tell them.

Luz stands and levels a look at her two friends. “I really appreciate you guys, but…”

“Stop right there,” Gus says, springing to his feet.

Willow joins him, “I may not be as well-read when it comes to fantasy literature as you, Luz, but even I can recognize the beginning of the Noble Sacrifice speech where the hero insists on walking into danger by themselves.”

Luz feels her cheeks warm. She knows she’s caught, but she’s not going to be talked out of this. She scuffs her foot on the threadbare rug and says, “It doesn’t change anything. You two are the best friends anyone could have, and I can’t risk getting you captured like Eda.”

“You can’t do this alone,” Willow insists and Gus nods.

“Yeah,” he says. “We’re with you all the way!”

Luz opens her mouth to argue, but Willow holds her hand up and gives her a stern look. 

“Besides,” Willow says, looking past Luz’s shoulder at the door. “We’re not the only ones here to help, and if you won’t listen to us, then I know who you will listen to.”

Luz’s eyes go wide and she doesn’t dare turn around. She wants to scream. She knows who Willow is talking about and this is the most unfair thing Willow could ever do.

“I hear someone’s planning a raid on the Emperor’s Coven,” Edric says.

“Yeah,” his twin, Emira agrees. “And we’re hurt you think you could pull this off without us!”

Luz still can’t bring herself to turn around. She hopes against hope it’s just the twins, but a soft hand on her shoulder makes her want to fall to her knees.

Turning, Luz looks into bright golden eyes scrunched up with worry and fear, and Luz hates that. She hates seeing Amity anything other than happy.

“Hey,” Luz offers weakly. She doesn’t know what to say. How does she tell Amity that she’s the only person she wants to see and simultaneously the last person she wants to see.

“Hey, yourself,” Amity replies, voice low and quiet.

“Excellent!” declares King. “More minions for my Liberation Army! Victory will soon be mine!”

Luz finds herself guided back to the sofa and Amity hobbles along with her trying to maneuver on her crutch while holding Luz’s hand. Luz sits there staring at their entwined hands, marveling even as her world has crashed around her over how soft and warm Amity’s hand is. It’s better than thinking about what might be happening to Eda while Luz just sits here being useless.

Seeing Luz struggle, Amity clears her throat and speaks. “I think we’ve got the basics of what happened, Luz. What can we do to help?”

“ _You_ can’t,” Luz insists, and she doesn’t care how harsh she sounds. There’s no way Amity is coming with Luz. 

Amity’s face goes hard, and she blushes a fierce red. 

Luz feels a tug on her heart. She loves Amity’s determination, her spirit. This feeling—this _love_ she can’t deny at least inside her own head no matter the fact that she knows Amity will never, can never feel the same way—is why she has to make sure Amity isn’t anywhere near Lilith. She can’t lose her, too.

The twins edge away from Amity, expecting an explosion. Willow and Gus and King are quietly watching the two young witches with concern.

“No, Amity,” Luz continues. “You’re on a broken ankle.”

“You think I’ll slow you down?” Amity asks, bitterly.

“If I had a broken ankle, would you let me go?” Luz counters, and Amity visibly deflates, her blush receding.

“We’ll table that discussion for now,” Amity concedes. “Now tell me everything that happened.”

Luz takes the win. 

“Alright,” she says, and Luz proceeds to tell Amity about Eda’s curse and Lilith’s offer to cure her sister and everything that happened at Emperor Belos’ palace, ending with Eda’s sacrifice to save Luz. She leaves nothing out, not even her guilt in how things went wrong.

“Stop blaming yourself, Luz,” Amity says, and that hard look is back in her eyes. This time, Luz is grateful to see it. 

“Right,” Luz agrees, squeezing Amity’s hand. She’s glad that Amity hasn’t pulled away. Luz needs this.

Seeing Luz try to match her determination, Amity continues, “The emperor will want to make a show out of Eda’s induction into the Coven. That’s good.”

“What do you mean?” Willow asks.

“The Day of Unity,” Amity answers.

Luz blinks in confusion. What does that have to do with anything? Before she can voice her question, the twins gasp in unison.

“He does like a show,” Em says.

“Which means we have three days,” Ed adds.

“The Day of Unity is in three days?” Luz asks, then realizes what Amity is saying. “But we can’t wait that long! We can’t let Lilith have her for three days!”

She looks at her friends feeling the wild claws of panic rising in her chest again.

A hard squeeze of her hand grounds her again, focusing her attention back on Amity, who watches her, eyes scanning Luz’s face as if she’s searching for an answer to an unspoken question. Whatever it is, Amity’s face drops into a cool mask of resolve once more.

“Hey,” Amity whispers. “We’re not going to leave her with Lilith a second longer than necessary, okay?”

Luz grits her teeth and squeezes her eyes shut, but she nods. “How long then?” she asks.

Amity lets go of Luz’s hand and Luz feels the chill of absence immediately. Amity, though, seems lost in thought as she stands, hobbling back and forth, pacing.

All eyes are focused on the young witch, and Luz feels hope because if anyone’s smart enough to figure out what to do, it’s Amity Blight.

She stops and that puzzling, searching stare falls on Luz again, and Luz so badly wants to ask what it is that Amity is looking for, but she can’t bring herself to do it. She’s afraid that Amity does blame her for Eda’s capture or just as bad thinks Luz isn’t capable of rescuing Eda.

Luz isn’t the only one who’s noticed. The twins and Willow are watching Amity as well as if they’re wondering what she’s thinking, too.

“Okay,” Amity says quietly, but it’s still enough to startle Luz. The green-haired witch blinks at Luz before clearing her throat. “Okay,” she tries again. “I know you don’t want to wait—”

“We _can’t_ wait!” Luz interrupts. She has to make Amity understand that she’ll go crazy if she has to wait three days not knowing what Lilith is doing to Eda.

“Just until tomorrow!” Amity argues.

“Why?” Luz counters, and she suddenly realizes that she had stood and come to face Amity, standing only inches from her, face to face. If this was a scene from an Azura novel, Luz would find herself lost in those beautiful gold eyes, picking out flecks of amber and green, but this wasn’t a book. Eda was a prisoner, and Luz couldn’t allow herself to be distracted, not even for a moment.

“You’re exhausted, Luz!” Amity shouts, pulling her out of her thoughts. “If you go after Lilith like this, she’ll capture you, too!”

Luz clenches her fists. She knows Amity’s right, but she just can’t admit it. She can’t admit to being so weak, and she had hoped that Amity of all people would understand.

“She’s right,” Willow says, and Luz feels the sting of betrayal again. She turns to face Willow so she can argue her case, but her friend doesn’t give her a chance to argue. “A night’s rest while we plan is a good idea.”

Luz sighs. It does make sense. Amity’s gentle hand on her shoulder turns her back to face probing eyes that keep looking for something in her Luz doesn’t know how to give.

“Alright,” Luz concedes. “Tomorrow, but no later.”

Amity’s smile is shaky, but she seems satisfied. “Now that that’s settled,” she says. “You’ll need to make a plan of attack.”

Luz blinks. “What about you?”

“Yeah, Mittens,” Ed says. “Obsessing over the details of a plan is your idea of a dream date.”

A look of panic so brief Luz thinks she may have imagined it crosses Amity’s face before her cheeks angrily redden as she turns towards Ed.

“So what are you going to be up to then?” Em asks, as she casually plays with the wire hanger that Eda had thought was an earring before turning a sharp-eyed gaze on to Amity.

“For your information, I’m going to go pick up supplies,” Amity replies stiffly.

Em’s usual smirk turns smug. “Oh, then you won’t mind me coming with, right?”

For whatever reason, Amity’s eyes go wide before they narrow and her face turns bright red again. “I don’t need a babysitter, Emira!”

“Fine, fine,” Em says, holding her hands up in surrender. “Have it your way.”

Amity stares at her sister for a long moment then turns to Luz, visibly trying to get herself back under control. “You were right before. With my leg, it would be irresponsible of me to go. All I would do is distract you, and that’s the last thing you need.”

Amity looks as if she wants to say more, and she can’t seem to look Luz in the eye. Finally, she grimaces and nods, saying, “I’ll be back soon.”

Without another word, she leaves.

Luz scrubs a hand through her hair. She can tell she’s missing something. The twins are giving each other meaningful looks and Willow seems worried.

“Okay,” Luz says after a couple of minutes of no one else offering anything. “Gus, would you mind feeding King?”

“Sure thing!” Gus replies.

“What?” asks King. “We’re planning our attack! This is no time for food!”

“Um…” Luz hesitates before remembering something she heard once on Earth in History class. “Armies run on their stomachs, King.”

He narrows his eyes at her in disbelief, so she adds, “How can you lead us if you’re distracted by hunger?”

“Hmm…” King says, considering Luz’s words before turning to follow Gus. “Very well! First we feast, then we march!”

“Alright,” Luz says, rounding on her remaining companions. “Something’s bothering you three. What is it?”

“Nothing,” Willow insists. “I’m only worried about Eda.”

Luz has known Willow long enough to know she’s a poor liar, and with everything going on, Luz knows she doesn’t do a good job of hiding the hurt.

Instead of dealing with that, she turns to the twins who look… nervous. She’s never seen them look nervous. Mischievous? Sure. Afraid when they were trapped by the Slitherbeast? Yeah, but never nervous.

“I wish someone would tell me what’s going on,” Luz snaps. 

To Luz’s annoyance, the twins shared a long, meaningful glance before letting out a synchronized sigh.

“Mittens is up to something,” Em offered. 

Ed nodded sagely. “She has tells,” he said.

“Usually they’re cute,” Em continued.

“And honestly we figured she’d try to rationalize her mentor’s actions,” Ed finished.

“She did take that rather well, didn’t she?” Em agreed. “She finds out her beloved mentor does something as terrible as cursing her own sister and uses you, Luz, her very dear friend, as a living shield against Eda’s attacks, and she just rolls with it.”

“Yes,” Ed says. “That’s our Mittens. She’s a girl that just rolls with the punches.”

Willow nervously added, “It reminded me of when she told me she didn’t want to be my friend anymore. I could tell she was hiding something, but I didn’t know what it was.”

Luz looked between the three. “Well, I trust her.”

That was that as far as she was concerned. Amity wouldn’t go behind her back.

“Sure,” Ed said with an easy shrug. 

“It’s not like she’s conveniently separated herself from us right when we’re getting to the planning stages, which by the way is what Mittens lives for,” Em said, taking up the wire hanger again. 

Willow glances back and forth between the twins, then fixes Luz with a stare. “Maybe we send one of the twins to make sure she doesn’t do anything she’ll regret?”

“No,” Luz says flatly.

That’s the end of that conversation. Once Gus and King return, the group starts going over how they can possibly infiltrate a heavily guarded fortress and retrieve a cursed witch stuck in Owl Monster form.

It’s… daunting. Luz can admit that.

After three hours and no sign of Amity, Luz is starting to worry. She shouldn’t let the twins and Willow get to her, but she’s already on edge. Even Gus is starting to seem overly anxious after a whispered conversation with Willow that Luz had pointedly ignored.

Finally Luz can’t take it any longer. She slams her pen down and looks at Em and Ed, who aren’t even bothering to hide their anxiety at this point. “Fine,” Luz says. “Fine. Why don’t the two of you go look for Amity? And once you find her, and she’s doing exactly what she said she’s doing, you can apologize to her in front of everyone.”

For once, the twins don’t have a snappy comeback. They stand up and stretch.

“We put a tracing spell on her a while back,” Ed admits. “So it shouldn’t take long to find her.”

Gus gasps. “That’s so not cool, guys.”

Em shrugs. “How do you think we found out about her little library hideout?”

They don’t wait for an answer, leaving immediately. Luz makes a point of not watching as they go.

It’s another hour before the twins burst back in looking as panicked as Luz had been earlier.

“What’s happened?” Luz demands. “Is Amity hurt?” She has no idea what could have gone wrong but this is the Boiling Isle and a simple trip to the market wasn’t without its dangers.

Em looks at Luz and her face falls. “She…” Em looks to her brother as if she needs his permission to continue.

Ed takes up where Em left off, saying, “She contacted Lilith! She offered to tell her your plans if Lilith will go easy on you and the rest of us.”

“No,” Luz whispers.

“I saw Mitt—Amity,” Em corrects herself as if the nickname for her younger sister has soured on her tongue. “I saw Amity use our dad’s sigil ring. He can use it to travel through a mirror in our home to the Emperor’s palace.”

Willow steps between a speechless Luz and the twins. “We’ll never get there in time,” she says. “Lilith will be ready for us.”

Em sighs. “We… made a quick copy of the sigil ring. We can follow her.”

“Just walk into the palace?” Ed looks at his sister, frowning at the idea. “Oh, hey Mr. Emperor, sir! Hi, Lil, we’re here to collect our idiot sister and that owl creature if you don’t mind!”

“What about an invisibility spell?” Gus suggests.

“Invisibility spell?” Luz asks. She didn’t realize those existed, and if they did why didn’t people here use them all the time.

“It won’t last long,” Gus explains. “But with three Illusionists, we can keep it going long enough to at least get in position to grab Amity and Eda.”

“Any better ideas?” Willow asks, looking hopeful that someone might think of something.

The twins simultaneously reply, “No, that’s probably our best shot.”

“Does the sigil work with any mirror, or just the one in your home?” Luz asks.

The twins shrug. “Don’t know,” Em answers. 

There’s a scramble to find a mirror, and they end up in Eda’s room, which is the only one with a full-length mirror. Em taps the ring to the mirror and there’s a shimmer. Suddenly, instead of a reflection, the image shifts to a long hallway that Luz recognizes.

“The palace,” she whispers, a fierce determined look settling on her face. She can’t think about Amity right now. She can’t think about anything but getting Eda back. She’ll save Amity if she can, but she’ll never forgive her.

Luz didn’t think anything could hurt as much as losing Eda, but Amity doing this hurts even more somehow.

There’s a noise downstairs. They can hear Hooty making a racket.

Willow frowns. “Do you think the Emperor’s Coven might be here already?”

“King,” Luz says. “Hide, okay? We’ll be back with Eda soon.”

“Hide?!” King cries, his voice shrill with anger.

“King, someone has to defend the house while we’re gone,” Luz argues. “And if we don’t make it back, it’ll be up to you to rescue us.”

That seems to do the trick as the little demon scrambles away after a quick hug.

With one last look at the house where she’s made so many great memories with Eda and King, Luz leads her friends through the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm dealing with stress by writing three chapters in three days before the season finale. I'm sure this won't add to my stress. My fear is Amity will pull a Season 2 finale Zuko move and side with Lilith for Reasons, and then I get to spend months with pain and sadness. Writing this is how I deal with it.
> 
> Now back to my regularly scheduled staring at my works in progress as I wrestle with life and writer's block for those stories at least.
> 
> See everyone with tomorrow's chapter: Antithesis, wherein we get to see all this from Amity's point of view.


	2. Antithesis

Amity has no idea how everything’s gone so wrong, and if asked, she would make it clear she isn’t doubting the fact that everything has gone spectacularly apocalyptic in epic fashion. She’s just not sure exactly how things escalated as quickly as they did or why they did. Willow had mentioned Eda having some sort of curse and a relic that might cure her and Luz trying to steal it—steal from the emperor’s palace under the noses of the Emperor’s Coven!—and everything just spiraling out of control from there. 

Truth be told, if anyone is to blame, it’s Amity herself. If she hadn’t gotten injured playing Grudgby, she would have been with Luz on that stupid field trip to Emperor Belos’ palace. She would have done… something. What she would have done… she’s not exactly sure, but she should have been beside Luz anyway.

It doesn’t matter. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t able to stop Luz from doing whatever it was she did that got her captured and used as bait to lure Eda to the palace.

All Amity is sure about is she’s so angry that she wants to summon an abomination and charge the palace herself. The woman she had once trusted more than anyone had hurt Luz. She regrets ever having met Lilith.

Lilith, who had captured Eda.

Lilith, who had used Luz to capture Eda.

Lilith, who had put Luz’s life in danger, using her as a shield, to capture Eda.

Lilith, who obviously only ever saw Amity as a convenient, pliable tool she could use for whatever purpose she saw fit.

Amity’s fists clench at her sides as she and her siblings walk through the woods to the Owl House and her strides lengthen, despite having to use a crutch for her broken ankle. She has to move faster. Luz needs her. She has to get to Luz.

“You okay, Mittens?” Ed asks her as he and Em easily match her pace. There’s no trace of mockery in the nickname, only concern. 

Amity cuts her eyes over to her brother although she doesn’t slow her pace. If anything, she moves just a bit faster because Luz needs her. The thought is like a drumbeat in her head, driving her in a quickening rhythm, ever forward towards Luz.

“Fine,” she says through gritted teeth. She doesn’t want to have this conversation. She’s seen the knowing looks, the unspoken conversations the twins always excel at having with each other, whenever the topic of Luz comes up. Most of the time, Amity would do anything to avoid discussing Luz with Ed and Em because they’d tease her until she was a complete emotional mess, stuttering and blushing and with feelings so huge and powerful bouncing around inside her that she’s practically paralyzed.

This is different. Glancing between Ed and Em, she can see they’re worried about her, worried that Lilith’s betrayal is just one more brick in a wall Amity’s built out of failures and disappointments, both her own and those around her. In quieter moments, the twins have admitted to her that they worry about how closed off she is.

Maybe they’re right, but at this moment it’s better. Nothing good can come of Amity dwelling on Lilith’s betrayal. She had so desperately wanted the leader of the Emperor’s Coven to be some sort of surrogate mother, a replacement for the cold woman who looked at Amity and saw nothing but a weak mistake who could never live up to the name of Blight.

“Sure,” Em says, and the lie is obvious.

Amity lets the subject drop and quickens her pace once again ignoring the twins’ protests over her injury.

As they approach the Owl House, Amity grimaces at the sight of that owl-tube-thing. It obviously remembers her, too, since it simply swings the door open without a peep. She’s glad she doesn’t have to deal with it because right now she’s so on edge she feels like she might vibrate right out of her skin.

Luz.

Even with the human girl facing away from Amity, the sight of her drives every thought, every feeling out of Amity except the desire to go to her and make everything okay.

That’s just a dumb fantasy, though, and Amity isn’t dumb.

She freezes in place just inside the door, unable to tear her eyes away from Luz. She’s barely aware of the twins edging past her.

Amity blinks hard, forcing herself to focus on Luz’s words.

“You two are the best friends anyone could have,” Luz says, fiercely. “And I can’t risk getting you captured like Eda.”

And there’s the truth Amity doesn’t want to hear. Willow and Gus are Luz’s best friends. It’s stupid and shameful that she’s jealous of them, but they’ll have something with Luz that Amity will never have, and even though Amity knows she doesn’t deserve Luz’s friendship because of the way she treated her when they first met, she wants it so much, so badly that she thinks she can taste it, or maybe that’s just a bit of blood from her biting her lip to keep from crying.

“You can’t do this alone,” Willow replies to Luz’s declaration.

“Yeah,” Gus agrees. “We’re with you all the way!”

That’s when Willow catches Amity’s eye, and there’s a momentary softness in the plant witch’s gaze that reminds Amity she has to stay in control. Luz needs her even if Luz doesn’t want her the way Amity wants Luz.

If Willow can see how conflicted Amity is, Luz will too, so Amity does what she does best and schools her face to an unconcerned mask of indifference. Well, almost. She knows there’s a hint of a smile because she’s near Luz, and she can’t help herself.

“Besides,” Willow says, that gentle stare still pinning Amity in place. “We’re not the only ones here to help, and if you won’t listen to us, then I know who you will listen to.”

Luz doesn’t turn around. Amity’s not sure why, but Luz seems to freeze. Amity guesses she’s embarrassed. Amity would be if she was caught being so openly emotional.

“I hear someone’s planning a raid on the Emperor’s Coven,” Edric says from beside Amity’s right shoulder.

“Yeah,” his twin, Emira pipes up from Amity’s left shoulder. “And we’re hurt you think you could pull this off without us!”

Amity finds the strength to take the first step towards Luz and then she can’t stop, like she’s being carried along in an avalanche. She reaches an unsteady hand out and sets it on Luz’s shoulder and feels selfish that just that touch grounds Amity, giving her the strength she needs. She should be the one giving Luz strength, not the other way around.

Turning, Luz meets Amity’s eyes, and there’s so much pain and sadness in the human girl’s gaze that Amity thinks her heart breaks all over again. She had thought when Luz had tacked on that line about doing what friends do when asking to be her Grom Friend-Date that she knew what heartache was (although she had been proud because she’s sure she didn’t show how painful that was when Luz held out her hand.) 

She was wrong. This is far worse.

Luz is like sunshine. She should be carefree and happy and shining on a stage for the world to see. Instead, she’s near broken and panicked and afraid.

Lilith made her this way, and Amity’s going to fix it.

“Hey,” Luz says, and it’s as if that one syllable is almost enough to shatter her.

Luz isn’t fragile. Amity has seen her strength, and she has no doubt it’s still there, but there’s a brittleness to Luz at this moment that suggests one more setback might irrevocably break her, and it’s Amity’s duty as a friend (never anything more) to give her own strength to Luz until she’s ready to stand on her own.

“Hey, yourself,” Amity replies, and she’s proud she sounds steady although she has to say it quietly to keep her voice from wavering.

She vaguely understands King’s going on about minions and armies, but Luz has her attention—commands her every thought.

Amity nudges Luz towards the sofa, and Luz, kind and caring as always, stays with Amity as she hobbles her way to sit beside her.

Luz looks at her as if she might have all the answers she needs to solve this predicament and get Eda back, and Amity feels a wild urge to kiss Luz that has her lean in just a fraction before she catches herself.

She clears her throat and says, “I think we’ve got the basics of what happened, Luz. What can we do to help?”

“ _You_ can’t,” Luz declares. 

Amity can feel herself going flush with how strong and protective Luz sounds even though she knows that it’s just general concern for a friend.

She can’t show that, though. She can’t put Luz in a position where she’s having to let Amity down from a silly crush—but it’s not just a crush, Amity admits to herself. No, it’s much deeper—so she pushes that down and opens her mouth to argue.

Luz doesn’t give her the chance. “No, Amity,” she says. “You’re on a broken ankle.”

“You think I’ll slow you down?” Amity asks, hating how bitter she sounds. She knows that even on two good legs, she would be the weak link. After all, she’s the only witch of her age still using a training wand to learn spells. Not like the twins or Willow, who are incredibly strong in their magic, or Gus, whose spells are so very versatile and inventive. What’s Amity got going for her? What good would a middling-strength abomination be against Lilith and however many of the Emperor’s Coven they’ll have to face.

“If I had a broken ankle, would you let me go?” Luz asks, pulling Amity out of her dark thoughts.

Amity feels like she’s crumpling in on herself, like she wants to be as small as possible because even now Luz is trying to let her down gently, just like she did at Grom. Luz deserves so much better than Amity will ever be able to give.

This _weakness_ isn’t appropriate. It’s beneath Amity. 

She takes a deep breath and says, “We’ll table that discussion for now. Tell me everything that happened.”

And Luz does just that.

Amity intersperses questions. Luz has occasionally hinted at Eda being cursed, but she’d never gone into detail, and Amity hadn’t wanted to pry. Her parents, especially her mother, are quite familiar with curses, and since they barely pay attention to whether Amity is nearby or not, she’s gleaned quite a lot over the years about the workings of curses.

One part of Luz’s story keeps sticking with Amity. Eda has been cursed for years and hasn’t been able to find a cure although Lilith claims the emperor can lift it. It’s possible. The emperor is incredibly powerful.

Filing that away, Amity gives Luz her full attention, and with dawning horror, she realizes that Luz is going to attempt to invade the emperor’s palace and free Eda.

It’s such a spectacularly bad idea that Amity starts trying to think of an alternative. There has to be some better way she can offer up to Luz. Ideas are all she’s really good for in this situation.

As she listens, she wonders if they can possibly cut a deal. Eda would be cured and if she’s in the Emperor’s Coven, she can still use any magic she wants without penalty. It would be a win for everyone, and most importantly Luz would be safe.

And yet Luz talks about how Eda had said the emperor doesn’t want to cure her, only control her. Amity looks deep into Luz’s eyes as she recounts the fight between the two sisters… and she sees that whether it’s true or not, Luz believes Eda.

That’s all that matters. There won’t be any deals. There won’t be a way out of this that doesn’t result in one side winning decisively, and one side taking a hard loss.

Fear grips at Amity’s heart. Luz is strong and resourceful and brave, but she’s no match for Lilith.

When Luz had described the incurable curse, Amity recalled an incident from her childhood. One of her mother’s acquaintances had crossed her somehow, Amity wasn’t sure of the details, only that her mother was furious and had cursed the woman. When it became clear that the woman was unable to find a cure, Amity’s mother had summoned the woman and her husband to Blight Manor, telling them that even if the curse was incurable, it could be transferred. Her mother had asked the husband if he would take the curse from his wife, and before he could answer, she warned him that once the potion moved the curse, it could never be transferred again. Without a cure, he would be cursed until the end of his days.

The man had balked at that and his wife was furious. Her mother gave the woman the cure to the curse proclaiming she was doing it out of kindness, but Amity and everyone else knew the truth. Her mother watched as the couple’s marriage disintegrated. She had her revenge.

The book that detailed the making of the transference potion is still in Blight Manor. Amity has seen it and read it when no one paid attention, just as she had with most of her parents’ tomes. She knows she can make the potion, although she isn’t quite sure how long it will take her to do so.

Amity also knows that out of anyone in their group, she alone can gain an audience with Lilith and use the potion on her although she also recalls that Lilith would have to be within a few yards of Eda for the magic to take effect.

Luz might buy into the plan, but she wouldn’t trust Amity to be strong enough to carry it out. She would insist on being the one to make the attempt to transfer the curse.

There isn’t any chance Amity is going to let Luz do that. 

Luz has people who love her: a mother on Earth, Eda, King, Willow, Gus, the twins, and Amity. Oh, how Amity loves her. Just the idea that Luz is going to put herself in danger makes Amity want to lash out and crush anyone who would dare threaten the human girl.

No one has that kind of love for Amity. Her parents and Lilith see her as a potentially useful tool, a doll they can sit on a shelf and take down when they want to show her off. The twins tolerate her and maybe have some affection for her, but they’ve always been distant, off in their own little world. Luz and Willow and to a lesser extent Gus are her friends, but she’s seen time and again that the three of them are closer than she’ll ever be to any of them.

Really does it matter? No, she thinks. It doesn’t. 

Amity can do this for Luz, and she will, but she needs time.

“The emperor will want to make a show out of Eda’s induction into the Coven,” Amity says as Luz winds down her account. “That’s good.”

“What do you mean?” Willow asks from the other side of Luz.

“The Day of Unity,” Amity answers, seeing Willow immediately mouth a silent “Oh” of understanding.

Luz, however, looks puzzled.

Before Amity can clarify, her sister speaks up. “He does like a show,” Em says.

“Which means we have three days,” Ed adds.

“The Day of Unity is in three days?” Luz asks, catching on, and Amity can see anger burning in her eyes. “But we can’t wait that long! We can’t let Lilith have her for three days!”

Amity needs Luz to buy into this. She needs time to make the potion and get to Lilith before Luz charges in the way she always recklessly, selflessly, wonderfully does. Maybe Luz will even win, but Amity can’t take that chance, not when she can keep Luz safe.

She looks hard at Luz, trying to divine somehow if Luz will listen when she unveils the next part of her ploy. It has to work, though. Amity shifts, steeling herself.

“Hey,” Amity whispers because she doesn’t trust that her voice won’t break, giving her away, if she speaks normally. “We’re not going to leave her with Lilith a second longer than necessary, okay?”

“How long then?” Luz asks, looking so angry that Amity is sure Luz hates her. That doesn’t dissuade her from her plan, though. She’ll take Luz’s hatred if it means Luz is safe and happy in the end.

She needs distance, though, from Luz or she’s going to falter, so she stands and hobbles back and forth, pacing with her stupid crutch.

Amity can feel the twins’ eyes on her. They know she’s nervous, so she avoids looking at them. Hopefully, they’ll write it off as her crush on Luz making her jumpy, but she has a nagging suspicion that they can tell she’s up to something.

“Okay,” Amity whispers trying to give herself a mini-pep talk. She can and will do this. Amity can’t fail. She clears her throat and says louder this time, “Okay, I know you don’t want to wait—”

And proving just that, Luz interrupts, “We _can’t_ wait!” 

“Just until tomorrow!” Amity pleads as Luz steps to her, stopping only inches from her, and Amity feels like she’s coming apart at the seams.

“Why?” Luz asks. She looks so hurt and disappointed that Amity has a moment of mad desire to take Luz’s hand and charge off to the emperor’s palace, consequences be damned.

She loves this stupid human so much it infuriates her. Amity is supposed to be smart. She’s supposed to be better than this because Luz needs her to be.

Her frustration boils over and she shouts, “You’re exhausted, Luz! If you go after Lilith like this, she’ll capture you, too!”

Luz clenches her fists, and Amity wonders if she’s pushed too far—if Luz might shove her out of the way, call her useless, and leave to rescue Eda without ever looking back. 

Willow comes to Amity’s rescue, and if she wasn’t in love with Luz, Amity would kiss her oldest friend. 

“She’s right,” Willow says, and Luz turns her furious gaze on the plant witch. It doesn’t deter Willow, who is so much stronger than anyone gives her credit for, and she continues, “A night’s rest while we plan is a good idea.” 

That’s all the opening Amity needs. Soon, she’s on her way to “buy supplies,” although there is a brief spat between her and the twins, and Amity knows they suspect her of something. She’ll just have to move quickly. Well… as quickly as this stupid broken ankle will allow.

Amity hurries home and says a silent thank you that her parents are as absent as always. She needs three things, the transference potion, the family’s scrying mirror, and her father’s sigil ring. She’s seen him use the ring to travel to the emperor’s palace for work, and she can use the scrying mirror to tell Lilith she has important information for her.

This will work. It has to work. There’s no alternative.

The ring isn’t hard to find. The twins aren’t the only ones who have sneaked around the manor although in Amity’s defense, most of her sneaking was a futile effort to find hiding places for things she didn’t want the twins to mess with. Regardless, she’d stumbled on her father’s secret hiding place where he kept select valuables, such as the sigil ring. 

Amity gathers everything she needs within minutes, thankful for her mother for once because the woman never lets her potion ingredients go out of stock. Her good luck continues as she reads through the potion instructions. It’s not difficult to make. The real difficulty in potions is in the invention of them for the most part. The majority of them are simple to make if you have the recipe, the ingredients, and a steady hand.

The potion needs to boil for an hour, and Amity finds she has a moment to think. She goes over her plan one last time before grabbing pen and paper. Once she’s written the letter, she summons her abomination.

She smiles at the constructed being. Most witches view abominations as nothing more than tools, but hers has been her friend for years. She’ll never admit it, but it was one reason she was mean to Willow after their friendship broke up. The girl always acted like abominations were icky, but in truth they’re loyal companions who Amity believes deserve respect and care, just like any other friend.

Amity whispers instructions to her abomination, and hands it the letter before sending it on its way, careful to remind it to stay out of sight until it reaches its destination.

There’s nothing else to do after that but wait the last few minutes. She can’t risk contacting Lilith before the potion is ready, so Amity finds herself in the last place she wants to be, alone with her thoughts.

Once this is over, she hopes Luz can forgive her. Luz will believe Amity doesn’t trust her, but it isn’t that at all. Amity is simply more expendable.

She spends the rest of her time until the potion is done fighting her doubts. She has to be ready or she’ll screw this up, and for once she can’t do that.

Finally, the potion is ready. Amity stashes a vial of it in her pocket. Luckily, her mother keeps unbreakable vials on hand for dangerous potions. Then she takes her father’s ring, slips it on her thumb, and approaches the scrying mirror.

The mirror is voice activated, so she calls out, “Lilith, I need to speak to you.”

After a few moments, Lilith’s face appears. She’s smirking and Amity has to resist the urge to use the ring and go punch that smile right off her former mentor’s face.

“Yes, my apprentice?” Lilith asks. “I’m quite busy right now, so I hope this is important.”

Amity feels a breeze and glances over her shoulder. There’s nothing there, though. The manor is drafty, and Amity is nervous. She chides herself for her jumpiness. That won’t help her with her mission.

“Are you not alone?” Lilith asks.

“I am,” Amity answers. “I thought I heard something, but it was just the wind.”

“Then what do you need?” Lilith already sounds bored with her.

“The human girl,” Amity blurts out. “She’s going to try to rescue the Owl Lady.”

“And just how do you know this?” Lilith asks, sitting forward, finally appearing interested. “Not that she’s a threat to me, but I’m curious.”

Amity is going to have to lie. It’s something she hates, even lying to someone as loathsome as the woman who dared use Luz as a shield against attacks, but if she’s going to lie, she has to do so now. There are no truth sensing spells she knows of that can work through a scrying mirror. She can say whatever she needs right now with no risk. Once she’s with Lilith, she’ll have to be very careful and use the truth as a weapon.

“My siblings are friends with her,” she says, truthfully, before the lie. “I keep an eye on them because despite being my parents’ favorites, they’ve never been trustworthy.”

Lilith raises an eyebrow as if to tell her to continue, so Amity just like the perfect doll she’s pretending to be obeys.

“I followed them to the Owl Lady’s house today and heard them planning to rescue the old witch,” she says.

“Tell me everything,” Lilith demands.

Amity almost curses. She had thought Lilith would want to bring her to her side to hear the details. Thinking fast, she has an idea.

“I’m worried they might come home before I can finish,” she argues, injecting anxiety into her voice. She doesn’t have to fake feeling anxious.

“And what do you suggest then?” Lilith asks. “Are you asking me to come retrieve you from Blight Manor?”

Amity smiles and holds up her hand, showing her former mentor the sigil ring.

“Clever,” Lilith smiles. “I knew you had potential.” Lilith sits back and continues, “Very well, come along then.”

Amity nods and holds the sigil to the mirror. It shimmers and she steps through. Amity finds herself in a hallway in the emperor’s palace where she’s met by two masked witches who have her sit and wait in a nearby chair.

It’s interminable. She must be kept there for an hour or longer. She knows why she’s being made to wait. No witch can hold a transformation spell or craft a disguise potion that will last longer than an hour. Finally, she’s instructed to stand and follow. She hopes she’s being taken to Lilith and not the conformatorium.

As she’s leaving, she thinks she sees the mirror she arrived through shimmer, but there’s nothing there. Once again scolding herself silently for her overactive imagination getting the better of her, she follows quietly, hobbling along on her crutch, the picture of an obedient young witch who lives only to serve her betters.

At last, her plan is coming to fruition. She’s ushered through a tall set of double doors into a large chamber. Lilith sits at the far end with several members of the Emperor’s Coven surrounding her. That’s not good. Amity needs to get her alone.

Hissing and growling from the corner near Lilith’s seat captures her attention, and Amity glances over curiously to find a large, dark curtain drawn around what must be Eda in her owl beast form. She must be caged and likely sedated somehow.

With a shake of her head, Amity refocuses on Lilith. She knows it’s only natural the noise would make her curious. Nothing suspicious in that. It will only be a problem if she keeps her attention there too long.

Standing before Lilith, Amity holds her composure.

“You have news, Amity,” Lilith says, and it strikes Amity how rare it is that the woman uses her name. She must think it a reward, and not too long ago, Amity would have been thrilled to hear Lilith call her that.

“Yes, of course,” she answers, mindful that Lilith very likely has a truth sensing spell active. “The human girl intends to infiltrate the palace tomorrow and rescue the Owl Lady.”

Lilith pauses, staring at Amity, which confirms to her that she’s using a spell to detect any lies. “Is that all?”

Amity glances around before replying, “May I speak to you privately, Lilith?”

“Why?” Lilith asks.

Why, indeed. There’s no time to stall, though.

“I’m afraid,” Amity says. “No matter what they’ve done wrong, Edric and Emira are still my brother and sister, and they reflect for good or ill on my family’s name.”

Amity hopes that’s the last time she ever has to act like she cares about the name, Blight.

She can feel the coven members watching her curiously.

Lilith smirks and says, “You wish to beg me privately for mercy on your siblings?”

Amity bows her head and says, “Yes.” She will do just that. “Also, I would ask for mercy on the human girl and her friends, too.”

Lilith stiffens at Amity’s words, and Amity hurries to explain.

“The human girl is useful,” she blurts out. “Keeping her alive and unharmed will keep the Owl Lady in line, and keeping the human’s friends alive and unharmed will keep her in line as well.”

“Perhaps,” Lilith replies, sounding unconvinced. That’s fine. Amity expected she would have to give up more than that to get what she wants.

“I can tell you other things involving the human,” Amity continues. “But…” she trails off with a meaningful look at the other witches present.

“Fine,” Lilith says, waving off the witches in attendance. “Leave us.”

As the door closes, there’s another growl from behind the curtain and Amity takes advantage, asking, “May I see the creature?”

“Whatever for?” Lilith asks, suspiciously.

“The human girl said she’s quite frightening,” Amity replies. “I’m just curious if she was exaggerating.”

Lilith shrugs and stands, and Amity feels a thrill shoot through her. Her plan is working!

Before the older witch can take three steps, a voice calls out that turns the victorious thrill into bone-chilling fear.

“You aren’t going anywhere near Eda!” Luz shouts.

Amity turns seeing the telltale shimmer of an invisibility spell fading. All of her friends are here.

Lilith laughs and her staff flies into her hand. “Oh, children,” she says. “You have no idea what you’re in for.”

“Neither do you,” Em says, and Ed smirks beside her.

Willow and Gus sprint to the door, and the plant witch raises vines up that the young illusionist strengthens.

“We’ll keep everyone out, Luz!” Willow cries.

“No,” Amity says. “This can’t be happening.”

Luz looks at her with an angry snarl. “I trusted you!”

Amity feels like she’s dying. This is all going wrong. She glances at Lilith who holds her staff up and flies into the air, zipping towards Luz and the twins in the opposite direction of Eda.

“No,” Amity whispers. She has to think fast. Her siblings and Luz are busy dodging Lilith’s attacks, and Amity is so thankful for Luz’s new spell-repelling cape as a blast bounces harmlessly off the girl she loves. Willow and Gus are occupied with keeping the door sealed.

No one is paying attention to her. Why would they? She’s not strong enough to make a difference in the fight. 

She knows what she has to do.

Abandoning her crutch and gritting her teeth against the pain, Amity runs to the curtain and pushes through, finding herself face to face with a very angry, caged owl beast. It’s muzzled, which reassures Amity slightly, but she’s still trembling as she stares into those soulless black eyes.

With shaking hands, she pulls the vial from her pocket. A splash would suffice, but why take chances? Before she can tell herself this is a bad idea, Amity drinks the potion in one gulp.

Now that she’s committed, it occurs to her she doesn’t know how long it takes the potion to work its magic. Thankfully, not long. 

Almost instantaneously, a glow surrounds both her and Eda, and Eda’s form begins to shift and the muzzle falls away. Within seconds, the Owl Lady stands before her, confused.

“What are you doing here, kid?” Eda asks, blinking in confusion at her surroundings.

“There’s no time!” Amity cries. “I gave you the cure, but Lilith is attacking Luz!”

With a look of grim determination, Eda holds out her hand and her little owl flies into the cage from who knows where before it transforms into Eda’s staff. Amity reasons Lilith must have been keeping it nearby.

It doesn’t matter. Luz is in danger, and Amity feels like she’s being broken into pieces. Is this how Eda feels when she transforms?

With a flick of her staff, Eda melts the bars and without even looking at Amity, says, “Stay here where it’s safe. My sister needs to learn not to mess with my kid.”

Amity doesn’t answer, and she’s glad that Eda is focused on the battle beyond the curtain instead of on her. The pain is already nearly unbearable and if she opens her mouth, she’s going to scream.

With a flourish, Eda blasts through the curtain to save Luz, and for that at least, Amity is thankful.

Holding up her hand, Amity sees feathers sprouting from her arm.

That’s okay. Eda’s free from her curse and will save Luz.

Amity’s last thought before her consciousness fades is that this is a small price to pay for the girl she loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into Amity. I find her to be compelling and fascinating, really. And doesn't everyone love a happy ending? 
> 
> If I made any serious errors, please let me know!
> 
> Tomorrow, we wrap up with Chapter 3: Synthesis


	3. Synthesis

Eda blinks, dazed and unsure of what’s happened or where she is precisely. She remembers fighting Lily… on a bridge? Luz was there?

She looks around and sees the Blight kid. Eda’s only encountered the girl a few times, and she’s never made a good impression on Eda, who’s pretty sure the kid’s a little wannabe trying to make herself into the perfect image of Lily, like that would be anything to brag about. For some reason, Luz is determined to make the girl her friend and considering the girl torched that Willow girl’s memories because they were inconvenient to her, Eda hopes Luz comes to her senses soon and dumps this poser before she hurts her.

“What are you doing here, kid?” Eda asks. Maybe the kid’ll make herself useful for once and clue Eda in as to what’s going on.

“There’s no time!” the younger witch cries. “I gave you the cure, but Lilith is attacking Luz!”

Mention of Lily attacking Luz brings memories flooding back, and Eda remembers her sister using Luz to keep Eda at bay, throwing her into that ravine to force Eda to use up the last of her magic.

Eda grits her teeth and holds out her hand, hoping Owlbert is nearby. Luckily, he is and she has her staff in hand after only a moment.

The sounds of battle catch Eda’s attention. She hopes she’s alert enough after an extended time in owl beast form to give Lily the beating she deserves. Already, she can feel her power surging like it hasn’t in years.

With a flick of her staff, Eda melts the bars, and she smiles, saying, “Stay here where it’s safe. My sister needs to learn not to mess with my kid.”

Eda might not like the kid and think she’s about as trustworthy as a slitherbeast on an empty stomach, but it appears she did manage to lift Eda’s curse, and Luz likes her. If she’s honest, that last part is the thing about the Blight girl that bothers Eda. She watches Luz try to be this girl’s friend, thinking if she can just get stuck-up Little Miss Perfect to accept her, and the girl’s attitude changes, Luz will feel like the path she’s chosen for herself is the right one, that she isn’t a loser and an outcast, that even the cool, popular girl will choose her.

Eda remembers chasing after Lily the same way when they were kids, thinking maybe if she tried hard enough, Lily would finally see her sister wasn’t just a screw-up, maybe would want to be around her, maybe love her.

It doesn’t matter, Eda thinks. Leaving the Blight girl here means there’s one less witch between her, her sister, and the smackdown Lily’s thoroughly earned.

With a flourish, Eda sends a blast of wind out, blowing the curtain aside, and then she’s flying towards her sister, who’s attacking Luz and the other two Blight kids, the ones she kind of likes. At least they have a sense of humor. 

She sends a blast of fire at Lily. It’s too bad her sister sees it at the last second and manages to leap to the side.

“Eda!” Luz cries, beginning to step towards her.

“Hold up, kid,” Eda says with a smirk, and she fashions a quick barrier, walling off Luz and her friends from Lily and herself. She also magically seals the door just in case anyone else wants to interfere. “I need some quality bonding time with my sister first.”

Lily gives her a tight-lipped grimace, and Eda’s smirk is practically feral. Neither of them will hold back this time. Too bad Lily stands even less of a chance than she did before, now that Eda’s cured.

“I don’t know how that traitorous little brat transformed you, Edalyn,” Lily begins, but Eda cuts her off.

“Not transformed,” Eda practically purrs. “Cured.”

Lily’s eyes go wide, and Eda revels in the sight. Her sister knows she can’t win. Heck, not even the emperor wants to tangle with Eda at full strength.

“That little upstart will pay for this!” Lily screams and fires a blast.

Eda’s almost caught off guard. She had expected Lily to attack her, but instead she’s smart enough to know she has no chance of getting through Eda’s defenses, so she instead aims the blast in the direction where the Blight girl is hiding on Eda’s instruction.

Still, it’s child’s play for Eda to deflect the beam into the wall. There’s an explosion outward and Eda smiles at the convenient escape path her dear sister just assisted in creating. Sure, there’s some rubble lying around and a whole lot of smoke, but Lily’s got plenty of help around this decrepit castle so cleanup shouldn't be too hard, and the blast didn’t reach the Blight girl, so Eda figures her debt to the kid for curing her is repaid.

“Settle down, Lily,” Eda says with a laugh. “Or I’ll stop taking it easy on you.”

Before she can gloat further, something halfway between a roar and a scream shrieks out from the clearing mist. Both sisters turn to face whatever it is although Eda feels a sinking dread building inside her.

She can just make out the shape of the owl beast. She’s never seen it herself since… Well, she _was_ the owl beast until a couple of minutes ago, so she’s never actually seen it in person.

“She didn’t cure me,” Eda laughs. “She separated the cursed form from me. Clever girl.”

“Whatever,” Lily growls, raising her staff to cast at the beast if it charges.

It stalks forward and Eda gets a slightly better look. She never realized her beast form was quite that… small… or had mint green feathers… or… 

“Oh, no,” Eda whispers, and if she wasn’t the jaded old hag she is, she might actually be sick.

Eda freezes. She’s ashamed, but she freezes. What had that foolish little witch done?

Lily, obviously not realizing the truth of the situation, levels her staff and sends a bolt of magic in the owl beast’s direction, but it’s too quick for such a rudimentary attack and side steps. With a last hiss, it makes its escape through the gaping hole in the wall Lily had made moments ago and flees.

“Dammit!” Eda shouts, startling her sister and the remaining kids. With a flick of her staff, she binds Lily before she can do anything and throws her sister’s staff to the other end of the hall. She’ll have to track down the now-cursed Blight girl later. Right now, she’s got a pack of kids to look after.

“Lily, I’m only going to say this once,” Eda states calmly and evenly. Her sister’s eyes go wide, staring at her. Huh, speaking with quiet menace seems to have more effect on her sister than years of shouted insults. She’ll have to keep that in mind in the future. “Let your emperor know my curse is broken, so if he wants me, he’ll need to come get me himself.

“I doubt he’ll be eager to try that,” Eda finishes and gives her sister a grin that’s more snarl than smile. “And you better cover this up. If one of these kids suffers a hangnail over this, I’m going to conveniently forget you’re my sister, get it?”

Lily nods. “Fine, Edalyn. You win.”

It doesn’t feel like a win. Not even a little bit.

Eda drops the barrier from around the kids and pulls up a large section of floor. “Get on,” she says, and they scramble to obey. Eda takes a seat on her staff and using a cord of magical energy, pulls the makeshift platform behind her as she flies out the window.

“Wait!” Luz cries, and Eda doesn’t have the strength to meet her gaze. Luz’s panicked babbling continues, “Amity’s still back there! She cured you, Eda, right? I thought she betrayed us, but she cured you so it must have been part of a plan and we can’t leave her with Lilith because—”

“Luz,” Eda interrupts. “She’s not back there.”

“Of course she is,” Luz insists.

With a sigh, Eda turns and says, “She left before we did.”

The Blight twins catch on first. The boy looks like he’s hyperventilating, and the girl turns crimson with rage.

“No!” the Blight girl, Emira, shouts at Eda. “No!”

Eda doesn’t have an answer, and Luz is looking back and forth between Eda and the girl, confused. 

It’s Gus who figures it out next. “The owl beast…” he says in a near whisper.

And that’s when Luz knows what Eda desperately doesn’t want to say. That Blight girl had been too clever for her own good.

“She c-can’t…” Luz says, tears flowing. “Eda, we have to find her now!”

The older witch shakes her head. “You saw how fast that thing is. We won’t find it.”

“She’s not a thing!” Luz cries angrily. “Don’t call her that! We have to turn around!”

Eda doesn’t bother answering. The girl’s upset at losing a friend, and Eda doesn’t want to be cruel, but it’s probably better now than later after the cursed girl loses control and kills someone or hurts Luz.

“The tracing spell,” the Blight boy—Edric, Eda recalls—declares, and Eda raises an eyebrow. That’s a spell witch parents use to keep toddlers from wandering off. Using it on a teenager is downright creepy. 

Emira casts the spell, and an illusory weathervane pops up in front of her, but it spins and spins and spins.

“She’s an owl beast now,” Eda reminds them. “Not your sister. It won’t work.”

“Stop saying that!” Luz shouts. “I can’t lose her, Eda. I… I love her,” she finishes quietly.

Eda’s eyes go wide. Luz is fourteen. She doesn’t know what love is, not really. Still, it explains a whole heck of a lot, and makes things even worse in Eda’s opinion.

With a sigh, Eda says, “I’ll find her. I promise.”

“I want your oath,” Luz says, and Eda’s taken aback.

She stares at the girl and there’s a hardness in her eyes she wishes she never had to see.

“If that’s what you want,” Eda agrees. “As soon as we’re home, I’ll bind myself to an oath.”

Luz scoffs angrily, “What I want is to look for her right now.”

“I won’t be able to find her, Luz,” Eda explains gently. “Not like this. That trace spell would do the trick, but as she is currently, I’d need a feather or something.”

“Maybe there’s one back at the palace,” Willow, who had been silent until now, speaks up. “Maybe—”

“No,” Eda says, her tone brooking no argument. “Going back there is a death sentence, and my dear sister would have disposed of any evidence by now anyway.”

That ends the discussion for the flight home although it doesn’t stop Luz from visibly seething the entire way.

The moment they land, Luz strides toward her, hand extended.

Eda’s head hurts, and she rubs at her temple. She wishes Luz wasn’t so furious with her, but the kid needs to face reality. It’s a miracle that Eda hadn’t ever killed anyone while cursed, and that was only because she had her elixir from the start.

Luz is still standing in front of her holding her hand out for Eda.

The older witch blows out a breath and says, “What’s her name again?”

Luz’s extended hand draws back and curls into a fist. “Amity,” She grinds out from gritted teeth. “Her name is Amity.”

Eda nods. She holds out her hand and Luz takes it.

As Eda speaks, their hands glow. “I, Edalyn Cawthorne, swear that I will find Amity Blight. Furthermore, I swear that I will protect her and do everything in my power to keep her safe, and I will transfer the curse back to myself as soon as possible.”

Luz blinks at her after Eda releases her hand and wipes away tears. There’s a hint of a smile and suddenly Eda finds herself embraced. “Thank you, Eda,” Luz says weepily. “Thank you.”

Eda turns to the group, and seeing how lost they all look, she feels even worse over how cynical she’s been.

“Alright,” she says. “Come inside. You’re all exhausted. I’ll feed you before I go out to find our wayward witch.” 

The twins start arguing that they’re coming with her to find their sister, but Eda ignores them, marching towards the house. 

When they arrive at the door, Hooty pops out, saying, “Letter for Luz!”

“What?” Eda asks, surprised.

Luz simply stares at Hooty, blinking. 

“The mail-abomination dropped it off right before you left, Luz!” Hooty explains cheerily. “I wanted to tell you, but the instructions said not to give it to you until sunset or Eda returned!”

“Mail-abomination? What’s that?” Eda mutters as Hooty spits out a letter onto the ground in front of Luz’s feet.

Picking it up, Luz gasps and whispers, “Amity…”

Without another word, the girl barrels through the door and is immediately crowded by the other children as they follow. Eda hangs back. She has a suspicion as to what this letter is, and she’s unsure how Luz might react.

“Open it,” Edric insists.

“Do you want to open it in private?” Willow asks with a nod of agreement from Gus. The twins glare at Willow for the suggestion.

“I don’t know,” Luz says and looks toward Eda. “What should I do?”

Eda shrugs. “It’s your letter, kid, but those two are going to bug you until you tell them what’s in it. Why don’t you read it then decide if you want to share?”

Luz takes a steadying breath and says, “Alright.”

That seems to satisfy everyone to a degree at least. The Blights are obviously unhappy, but Luz is Eda’s primary concern.

As soon as Luz unfolds the paper, a small image of Amity Blight pops up from it and says, “Hi, Luz. I… uhm… sorry for sending you a letter like this, but after seeing the pages in the library come to life after the Wailing Star, I figured out how to do this, and I thought… well, I thought maybe you might appreciate the magic.”

Everyone is shocked, Eda most of all. The kid has brains, she’ll give her that. This is pretty advanced illusory magic, and Eda recalls that Amity uses a training wand to learn new spells. She had thought it meant that the kid wasn’t very gifted magically, especially in strength, but now she believes it’s only a confidence issue. It takes a very gifted witch to craft an illusion like this without being on that particular study track.

“Okay,” Amity’s image continues, looking nervous. “Here goes. I never thought I would write a letter like this, but I’ve learned that life is always interesting around you, Luz. I’m always learning new things.

“Actually, I’m getting ahead of myself,” Amity says with a frown and a sigh. “Best start out right.

“If you’re seeing this message, then it’s probably the worst case scenario… and I guess you know what that means.”

Luz’s breath catches and she sobs. Gus and Willow each take one of her hands to hold, both whispering that Amity isn’t dead, just lost for the moment. The twins edge towards each other, and Eda decides she was right to give the kids space. She notices King wandering in from another room, but she shushes him and he, for once, picks up on the social cue.

“I really hope that Eda’s there and safe. If she isn’t… that’s the _worst_ -worst case, so I’m going to assume that hasn’t happened.

“First, I’m sorry,” Amity says in a rush. “I know you’re angry with me. I deceived you, but I knew if I told you my plan, you’d try to take the potion and trap Lilith with it yourself. That’s just the kind of person you are, and while I admire you so much for that, I’m the one who can get closest to her. I’m the one with the best chance of succeeding.

“Oh, right. The plan. When you were talking about the curse, I remembered my mother has a tome containing the recipe for a transference potion. It can move the curse to someone else, but they have to be physically near the cursed witch, and there can’t be any mistakes. A curse can only be transferred once, and it’s permanent after that. It’s a forever kind of thing.”

Eda isn’t sure whose gasp is louder, her’s or Luz’s.

“I will find her a cure, Luz,” Eda says quickly so she doesn’t interrupt the letter.

Luz is sobbing openly and nods to show she heard Eda. The girl’s eyes are glued to the image of a sheepish Amity hovering over the letter as if she looks away, Amity will disappear.

“That’s the outline of the plan, the important parts, but it isn’t really why I’m writing. I know you’re angry with me,” she pauses and frowns again before continuing. “You might even hate me, and I accept that. I know how important Eda is to you, and I know my plan is risky, but I couldn’t let you risk yourself, not when I could try instead.

“Like I said before, I’ve learned a lot from you. I’ve learned what friendship really is. I’ve learned how to stand up for myself and for what I believe in.

“I’ve even learned how to fall in love,” Amity says, wiping tears from her eyes, matching Luz, who is doing the same. “I’m… I’m very sorry that I wasn’t brave enough to tell you face to face, that I wasn’t brave enough to ask you to Grom for real instead of letting you think I only want to be friends. I’m in love with you, Luz Noceda, and you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for being such a coward.”

The image takes a moment to compose herself. Luz isn’t so lucky. Eda thinks Gus and Willow are the only things holding her up at this point.

“I’m betting everyone else is watching this, too,” Amity says. “I love all of you, too. Em, Ed… I wish I had been a better sister. You deserved a sister who you could lo—” Amity coughs and starts over. “A sister you could trust,” she says with a shaky voice. “I want to apologize to Willow, too. You were always so much stronger than me, and I admire you more than you know. Same for you, Gus, although we’re just getting to know each other.”

Amity takes a deep breath and then says, “Eda, I know I haven’t made the best impression on you, but I want you to know how much Luz means to me, and I… I can’t live seeing Luz so heartbroken. I’m glad you won’t have to be cursed any longer, but I apologize if you’re angry that I transferred the curse to your sister. Believe me, I understand how complicated sibling relationships can be.

“I’d like to ask all of you to take care of each other. I know you will, but I guess goodbye letters like this are the place for last requests. All of you please take care of Luz. She means _everything_ to me.”

Amity wipes her eyes again and finishes, “Goodbye, Luz. I love you.”

The image fades out, and with shaky hands, Luz gently, delicately folds the letter and stands. In a very quiet, somber voice she says, “I’d like to be alone.”

Without waiting for a reply, Luz darts to the stairs and is out of sight. For a long while, no one says anything. Eventually, she has to send the kids home. She tries—and fails—to get Luz to eat something. Luz doesn’t sleep that night, and neither does Eda. She can hear the girl pacing all through the night. 

It takes two weeks for Eda to track down Amity. 

In the meantime, she has her hands full trying to keep Luz from falling apart. With help from Luz’s friends, she succeeds. Barely. Luz discovered that first night that if she closes the letter and opens it again, she can listen to Amity’s goodbye again. After that, it becomes an obsession for Luz, and Eda silently considers if it might be for the best if the letter just… disappeared.

She almost goes through with destroying the letter, but when she peeks through the door at Luz watching Amity tell her she loves her, Eda can’t do it. She knows at that moment that it would destroy Luz to lose that last piece of Amity.

It’s not as if there’s much else. The Blight parents decided to disinherit Amity the second they found out what really happened, a perk of being confidantes with Emperor Belos and Lily. Part of the disinheriting process, it appears, is destroying every item associated with Amity and then pretending she never existed in the first place. 

Eda thinks they’re lucky they happened to destroy all of Amity’s belongings and every picture of her the same day Eda decided she needed to visit and let them know she was looking for their daughter. It allows her to head off the twins before they come home and find out. Eda’s pretty certain they’d murder their parents in their sleep. She’s not convinced they still won’t, but she has a long talk with them about waiting it out and then striking out on their own as soon as they’re adults. She’ll help them as much as she can.

That isn’t to say the Blights come out of the encounter unscathed. Eda sees to that. She only wishes she could have saved more than a single, small box containing a Grom Queen tiara.

She hides the box in her own room. Seeing it would just make Luz ask questions, and she’s afraid of the girl’s reaction when she finds out what the Blights did. She doesn’t like hiding it from Luz, but she took Amity’s plea to heart. Who was she to deny a girl her last request?

All this time, Eda had thought that Amity Blight was a young clone of Lilith Clawthorne, snooty and jealous and willing to climb over anyone to satisfy her own ego. Eda couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Amity is just a scared little girl with hopes and dreams and fears, who needs help, and Eda is going to find her and give her that help, not just for Luz, but for Amity’s sake. Luz isn’t the only one affected by that letter Amity had left behind.

Eda’s big break happens by accident. She’s trawling through the market in search of potion ingredients because she’s got to do something to help Luz sleep, and blasting the kid with a sleep spell is a bit… drastic even for her.

She’s just picked up the last item she needs when she hears about some unidentified bird-like creature stalking The Knee. It could be anything, but most demons avoid slitherbeasts at any cost. When she gets to The Knee, she searches until nightfall when she sees a hint of mint green, finding a single feather.

It’s enough.

She doesn’t tell Luz, though, that night when she returns home. The last thing the poor kid can take is another disappointment. She’s barely making it through school days as it is, only Willow and Gus forcing her to study and eat. There’s already been some sort of incident with a kid named Boscha, and Luz giving her three black eyes, but Eda smooths things over with Bump.

The tracking spell works, and Eda finds herself face to face with an owl beast trying to rip her face off. There’s irony somewhere in the situation, but Eda’s working too hard to survive Amity’s claws to give it much thought. Still, one well-aimed sleep spell and a quick dose of elixir, and Eda has a small, fragile girl passed out in her arms.

She’s never been more relieved in her life.

The moment she’s home, she deposits the girl in a bed, but Eda can tell the girl is restless. A thought occurs to her. When she returned home free from her curse, she couldn’t wait to sleep in a real bed, but she had been too tired to make other arrangements, so regretfully, she had decided to spend one last night in her old nest, except she couldn’t get comfortable no matter how she tossed and turned. When she was cursed, she had always found comfort in the straw and downy feathers composing the nest. 

With King’s help, she gets the nest into the spare room she’s set aside for Amity and deposits the slumbering witch into it. Immediately, Amity snuggles into the bedding and relaxes.

It’s a reminder that they have a lot of work to do curing the girl. It’s work Eda’s glad to do.

All that’s left to do is wait for school to let out.

Eda’s strangely nervous when Luz returns home. This should be the easy part, but she can’t escape the idea that something is going to go wrong. Everything else has lately.

She gently clears her throat as the girl enters through the door and says, “I need to ask you to be quiet this afternoon, Luz.”

Luz blinks dully at her, taking several seconds to process the statement before asking, “Why?”

Eda stands and puts a hand on Luz’s shoulder because she figures she’ll either have to hold the girl up or restrain her from tearing through the house to find Amity.

“Amity’s sleeping upstairs,” Eda says, and she was right. Luz goes weak in the knees and Eda’s the only thing keeping her upright.

Luz swallows hard and scrubs at her eyes. “Can I see her? Please, Eda? I need to see her.”

Eda nods. “Sure, kid.”

When Luz opens the door, her hand is shaking, but the grin on her face when Amity sits up, blinking, makes Eda feel for the first time since she went to confront her sister at Belos’ palace that things might finally be okay.

“Hey,” Luz whispers.

“Luz?” Amity asks, looking around. “Where am I?”

That’s all it takes for Luz to sprint to Amity and embrace her. There’s a lot of kissing on the cheek and crying and Luz demanding that Amity never leave her again before Luz says something that freezes them both.

“I love you, too, Amity,” she says with tears in her eyes. “I can’t lose you, so you can’t ever do anything like that again.”

For a moment, all Amity can do is blink, but then she puts a hand on each side of Luz’s face and pulls her in for a kiss.

Eda lets that go on for several seconds before clearing her throat loudly. Twice.

The two embarrassed teens pull apart and can’t seem to meet each other’s or her eyes.

“I guess we’re going to have to talk about open door rules,” Eda says with a put-upon tone. She’s ecstatic, but recalling herself at that age, she figures she needs to make them think they’re an inch from dire punishment or things will likely get out of hand. Who’s she kidding? She’s going to have to get a hose.

At least, it’ll be funny.

Luz lights up instantly. “She’s staying here?”

Amity’s face falls. “My parents don’t want me to come home, do they?”

Eda sighs. No matter how terrible they are, they’re still Amity’s parents. “‘Fraid not, kid. I’m sorry about that, really, but I do know a thing or two about living as a cursed owl beast, so maybe it’s for the best.”

Amity nods, but she’s shaken. Eda wishes she could have sugar-coated it more, but she was going to find out sooner or later.

Luz isn’t as sanguine about the situation. She has a dark look on her face that worries Eda.

“Kid,” Eda says firmly. “Amity’s here. She’s safe. I don’t know about you, but I count that as a victory. She has you and me and King and the rest of your friends. Speaking of, I’ll let your siblings know you’re safe here after I get some food into the two of you, okay, Amity?”

Amity nods eagerly, but for several seconds, Eda isn’t sure Luz will accept that the Blight parents aren’t facing more consequences. Finally, Amity pulls her close and hugs her, and Luz relaxes.

Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, Eda thinks.

“Okay,” she says. “You can rest tonight, but tomorrow we talk about chores, and Amity, I’ll take you both to school tomorrow. I need to speak to Bump about getting you back into classes.”

Amity has a thoughtful frown on her face, and Luz just stares at her adoringly. It’s kind of hilarious if Eda’s honest.

“Do you think I can take multiple tracks?” Amity asks. “Like Luz does?”

Eda grins. Yeah, things are going to be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. Three chapters in three days, and to brag a little bit, I started writing Chapter 1 on Wednesday, Chapter 2 yesterday, and Chapter 3 today. I'm probably unfairly proud of that.
> 
> My partner wants me to write a sequel. I might, maybe? I'm exhausted, though, and I still have a stomach ache over how tomorrow's finale is going to turn out.
> 
> As usual, if I screwed anything major up, let me know and I'll fix it!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
